Va. probation officer charged in sex assault of child

ARLINGTON COUNTY, Va. (WUSA9) -- An Arlington County probation officer is on unpaid leave after being arrested for the sexual battery of a ten-year-old girl. He was arrested at his Dale City home.

"I was shocked and disgusted. Repulsed that he could do something like this," said a woman who knows 40-year-old Marco Silva. The Dale City father of two small children, is a man many people trusted. Alyssa Maupin, a friend of the child's mother, says she use to trust Silva, until the girl told her secret.

"I believe her with all of my being. I don't think she would make something like that up. I don't think children lie about things like this," said Alyssa Maupin, a good friend of the child's mother. She also knows Marco Silva, They all attend the same church.

Maupin says she understands the abuse went on for more than a year.

"I believe it was more than one time, and that it was for a prolonged period of time."

What made the child come forward, Maupin says, was that "I think she was scared, and I think it was getting more and more aggressive as time went on."

Maupin says the girl was very brave and strong to come forward with what was really going on.

Prince William County Police arrested Silva on July 9th for the sexual batter they say happened on July 7. Last week, Maupin says she and the child's mother were stunned when Silva was released on bond.

Arlington County Spokeswoman Diana Sun says Silva was hired as a probation officer in 2009. She said he's on unpaid administrative leave because of the charges. Before 2009, Silva worked for the city of Alexandria. He was a caseworker with the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, says Craig Feifer, acting Director of Communications for Alexandria

Maupin says she finds it sad and ironic that a man hired to help offenders was hurting a child. She says she came forward because she "doesn't want him to get away with it," and she hopes "no other children were abused by him."